Monthly Archives: December 2003

…for Christmas. Here it is: Actually, in my neighborhood–a middle of the road suburb, definitely non-fashionable, with lots of RVs and big dogs–this would be about average. We have tour buses driving through the neighborhood to view the decorations. Somewhat odd, in my opinion, but we put up a tree, a snowman, and some miscellaneous lights to do our part. »

We usually pounce on the New York Times’ corrections when they reveal bias or incompetence–both frequent occurrences. But one of today’s corrections seems weirdly insubstantial: “An article on Nov. 18 about French government efforts to combat an increase in anti-Semitism misstated the result of a recent European Union poll about threats to world peace. (The error also appeared in a correction published on Nov. 19 about both that article and »

Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of The Palestine Chronicle newspaper, took Saddam’s capture and subsequent medical examination hard. Writing in the Seattle Times, Baroud confesses that when he learned of Saddam’s capture “something inside me was crushed.” He continues: “Seeing Saddam in that cluttered state, willingly opening his mouth to an American military doctor, being treated ‘like a cow,’ as the Vatican claimed, provoked an array of emotions that I could hardly »

as reported by the Daily Telegraph of London. Official France is having a tough time getting its story straight. Foreign minister de Villepin admits that France was out-of-the-loop with respect to the diplomatic efforts regarding Libya but claims that this represents “a perfect example of his vision of an interdependent, multi-polar world at work.” However, defense minister Michele Alliot-Marie claims that France was “perfectly informed of the negotiations” several months »

I couldn’t care less about the medical issues that are the ostensible subject of this Health Journal column from the Personal section of today’s Wall Street Journal. The column touches on several themes, including an Apple computer and accompanying CD program that save the day like the deus ex machina in ancient Greek drama. But the power of a mother’s devotion to her child is certainly the column’s strongest theme. »

Andrew Sullivan finds the French press to be “pleasurable reading” right now, as it searches for elegant ways to state the fact that French diplomacy is in a “morose” state. The comments of Le Figaro and Le Parisien appear at the top. By scrolling down a little, you can find the comments of Le Monde, a Socialist party spokesperson, and de Villepin, lui meme. »

Daniel Pipes, in the New York Sun, wonders whether we should take Ariel Sharon’s threatened disengagement from the Palestinians at face value. Pipes thinks that implementation of the policy Sharon outlined last week — redeployment of Israeli troops behind new security lines and the abandonment of some settlements — would be a “major blunder.” It would send three defeatist messages — that Palestinian terrorism works, that Israel is in retreat, »

Edward Morrissey takes the honors for the best discussion of Wesley Clark’s astounding pledge to give Europe a “right of first refusal” on America’s national security concerns: “Right of first refusal: Meaning?” »

Ruth Wedgwood is a former federal prosecutor and current professor of international law and diplomacy at Johns Hopkins. Today’s New York Times carries her column “The rule of law and the war on terror.” Wedgwood asks what the government is to do when it knows of catastrophic threats or dangers to Americans through intelligence sources, yet is unable to prove its case in a criminal trial against those planning such »

In the past few days I came across a piece compiling Wesley Clark’s responses to questions regarding General Shelton’s criticism of Clark’s integrity and character. The theme of the piece was that Clark had provided three inconsistent responses to General Shelton’s comments on him. I didn’t read the piece at the time I came across it, but meant to come back to it and a link to it here. Now »

Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Ahmed Maher, is visiting Israel. Today he paid a visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount. He was assaulted by Palestinians who, among other things, pelted him with shoes. The Palestinians, at least some of whom were members of a group called the Islamic Liberation Party, denounced Maher as a “traitor,” apparently because of his and Egypt’s efforts to restart the stalled “peace process.” The photo »

Henry Kissinger has a lengthy piece in today’s Washington Post on Sharon’s “seminal speech” announcing that if Arab-Israeli negotiations do not progress in the next few months, Israel will proceed unilaterally. Unfortunately, the column is not available online. As always, Kissinger’s piece is quite dense (to be honest, I’m rarely able to finish them except when they are about Israel) and not easy to summarize. His main argument, though, is »

In the wake of Time Magazine’s anti-Bush screed in the guise of an insincere tribute to the military, Scrappleface has the scoop on the New York Times’ “Individual of the Year”: “After word that Time magazine had selected ‘The American Soldier’ as its Person of the Year, The New York Times today announced its pick for ‘2003 Individual of the Year’ — The African-American Unemployed, Uninsured, Lesbian Woman with an »

William Dennis, for National Review Online, offers some advice on a matter that increasingly perplexes me — how (or whether) to support my college and law school in view of their descent into political correctness, racial discrimination, anti-Americanism, and general zaniness. Dennis’ solution is to set up a donor-advised fund through which the donor apparently can cause funds to be disbursed to projects of his or her choosing. The idea »